I've got the "hole in the water"

[MikeP]

And now I have the water too!

Two days ago we bought the slip in our condo marina where our boat has been the past 18 months. So now I not only own a hole in the water, I own the water that the hole fits it! I guess that means I no longer lose money by throwing it in the hole in the water 'cuz now I can just dive in and get it back out!

 

[dastahl]

I sure hope you are right. May be stretch a net below the Hatt?

One of my boating friends had a condo slip at Bohemia. He got a new/old boat when he lost his but the lawyers are fighting over the condo after it fell in from too much snow last winter. And I have a friend who was thrown out of Georgetown were you will find two large covered dock abandoned. I'm glad I did own those. And I a friend of mine in your marina was crying last year or the year before after a large assesment for something about the roof. May be the slip will be just another hole in the water . I think I'll rent and keep moving.

Skooch

 

[jim rosenthal]

Mike bought a slip in the best part of the marina- the part that has the new roof put on the dock last year. And, FWIW, this marina is well run- even through hard times, the place has done at least okay, sometimes better than okay, and it is kept up well and a decent place to keep your boat. I lived there years ago and liked it- on the same boat I have now. And under the shed, they stay cleaner and in better shape, although it does get a bit gloomy under there this time of year.

 

[saltshaker]

And now I have the water too!

Two days ago we bought the slip in our condo marina where our boat has been the past 18 months. So now I not only own a hole in the water, I own the water that the hole fits it! I guess that means I no longer lose money by throwing it in the hole in the water 'cuz now I can just dive in and get it back out!

Remember a power boat is propelled by the rapid combustion of money.

 

[MikeP]

I must admit that purchasing the slip was against the recommendations of a friend here at the marina who has consistently advised me that renting is a much better deal.

But in the spirit of "buy high, sell low" which I have always lived by, I figured what the heck! And considering the fact that they had just installed a new roof that would meet nuclear detonation standards, it seemed like a good time. Actually the previous owner offered me darned good price. He didn't shop it at all, just asked me if I wanted to buy it and gave me a price. Since it was 30k+ less than I had expected to hear (and we'd have said no) we agreed.

Actually, everyone is assuring me that I can only make money on this deal. BUT I lost money on 4 houses (in different states) during my life and with all 4 of them the realtor in each case assured me that I could only make money on the deal!

 

[SeaEric]

Since you bought after the huge assessment for the roof replacement, you're probably in decent shape. I owned a slip on your dock which I purchased in 2000 and (luckily) sold in 2004 for almost triple what I had paid for it. Had I still owned it, I would not have been happy with the $67,500. one time charge for that new roof.

I still own 2 slips at Piney, but they are open slips with much lower fees than the covered slips carry. I bought them years ago. I'm fortunate in that I have a dependable business tenant that pays me the posted rental rates. When you calculate the cost of funds invested, even at current rates of return, add condo fees, taxes and insurance cost - owning your slip for your own use is marginal as compared to renting. The best advantage to owning is the security of knowing that a landlord cannot throw you out, or raise the rent capriciously.

Our management and Board do a great job of running the place. Fuel sales profit helps offset our operations. When sales and profits are down, the slip owners have to make up the difference. So, Mike - Welcome to the family!

 

[rsmith]

I got sick of fighting with marinas and bought a house for the boat in '85 never regreted it. I don't know how the condo deal for boat slips works but we have a small marina as part of our comunity here and they condo'd out the slips a few years ago. Funny thing was most of the slips were bought by speculators who didnt have boats. I talked to a lawyer friend who said the owners had realy no proof of ownership other than a bill of sale as there were no titles or deeds. But thats in Fla.
I was flying my plane back and forth to Vero Beach from Phila. before I moved there full time and couldnt find hangar space. I ended up going in with 25 other guys and built our own hangars on the airport. Even tho we own our own hangars the city owns the dirt and we have a land lease with them for 30years. Being the city only wanted to deal with one enity we had to form a LP to act as a condo assn. If someone wants to sell they sell their LP share. We did this in '89 and its been a major PITA I was president for 12 years and finaly quit because I got no help from the other members. I had to shame another guy into taking over. Even tho we have a solid lease the airport tried to take our hangars thru "eminant domain" a few years ago and give the land to Flight Safety int. to build large simulators. We fought off the attempt but that was before the supreme court ruling. Dont know how we would fare now.
The longer I live I've realised we dont realy own anything we just get the right to use it for a little while. As long as someone with more money power and better lawyers dosent want to take it away from us.